Contents and Arrangement Collection View
Description:

The U.S. Government and United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) series is composed of government reports, Cleveland's writings, and correspondence related to the many positions Cleveland held related to economic aid during the 1940s, especially with the Farm Security Administration, the Allied Control Commission in Rome, and the UNRRA. The subjects of the reports include the development of policies, reporting on the logistics of aid programs, and histories of the programs. The correspondence includes both memoranda about the policies and issues of the organizations and Cleveland's correspondence with his family. Also included are papers, diaries, and family correspondence from when Cleveland was a student at Princeton University and Oxford.

Arranged in approximately reverse-chronological order by year.

Description:

The U.S. Department of State series documents Cleveland's service as assistant secretary for international organization affairs and as U.S. ambassador to NATO and includes his speech and writing files, as well as correspondence and photographs. The main subjects of his writings include diplomacy, peacekeeping, NATO policies, the role of the United Nations in world governance, the United States's system for conducing foreign affairs, economic aid and development, the Peace Corps, the Cold War, and human rights and diversity. The correspondence is all from 1964 and is between Harland and scholars, officials, and journalists. Much of the correspondence is routine in nature, discussing the arrangement of meetings and the exchange of copies of articles, while in other correspondence they discuss the content of articles and the United Nations.

Arranged alphabetically by document type.

1964, 1964

1 folder

1961, 1961

1 folder

1964, 1964

1 folder

1965, 1965

1 folder
Description:

The Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies series is composed of Cleveland's writings, as well as a small amount of correspondence (the Chronological Files folders), documenting his tenure as director of the program on international affairs. The main subjects of his writings include the United States's global leadership role, the United Nations, the relationship between domestic and international affairs, Cleveland's world travels, world organization and global technology, international business and economy, NATO, and higher education. The Chronological Files contain Cleveland's outgoing correspondence to scholars and government officials thanking them for their comments, commenting on their papers, requesting or providing information, and coordinating projects and conferences of the Institute.

Arranged chronologically by year.

1976, 1976

1 folder

1977, 1977

1 folder

1979, 1979

1 folder

1979, 1979

1 folder
Description:

The Personal Files series includes biographical and autobiographical information about Cleveland, bibliographies of his writings, correspondence he received on his 70th birthday from colleagues which highlight his importance to his fields, and photographs from throughout his career.

Arranged alphabetically by document type.

Scope and Contents

Cleveland's papers document his government service and his work at the Aspen Institute, and include his speech and writings files, as well as correspondence and photographs. The subjects of his writings include world organization, the role of the United Nations, United States foreign policy, NATO, and economic aid and development.

Collection Creator Biography:

Cleveland

Harlan Cleveland (1918-2008) was a public administrator, ambassador to NATO, and a political scientist. He served in several positions related to the administration of economic aid programs during the 1940s, as an assistant secretary in the State Department and as U.S. ambassador to NATO during the 1960s, and also held positions at three universities and the Aspen Institute.

Cleveland began his career in public service in 1940 as a writer in the information division of the Farm Security Administration. In 1942, he embarked on a period of work with economic aid, first with the Board of Economic Warfare (later the Foreign Economic Administration) from 1942 to 1944, where he focused on problems of relief and economic rehabilitation of the European countries that were occupied by Germany. He next served as executive director and acting vice president of the economic section of the Allied Control Commission in Rome from 1944 to 1946. Cleveland worked for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) as department chief of the Italian Mission from 1946 to 1947 and as director of the China office from 1947 to 1948. He then served as director (1948-1949) and department assistant administrator (1949-1951) of the Far East Program Division of the ECA (Economic Cooperation Administration). His final position during this period of his career was assistant director for the Mutual Security Agency, in charge of the European program, from 1952 to 1953, when he supervised the fourth year of the Marshall Plan.

Cleveland left government service in 1953 to become executive editor of The Reporter, a liberal biweekly magazine in New York City, a position he held until 1956. He also served as the publisher from 1955 to 1956. From 1956 to 1961, he was a professor of political science and dean of the Maxwell Graduate School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, where he built a significant overseas training program.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Cleveland assistant secretary for international organization affairs in the U.S. Department of State, a position he held until 1965. In this position, he served as an intermediary between Secretary of State Dean Rusk and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Adlai Stevenson and was involved in responding to several peace and security crises during that period, including in the Congo, West New Guinea, Cypress, the Middle East, and the Cuban missile crisis. He was also responsible for ensuring that ambassadors to international organizations promoted and protected U.S. interests and for selecting the U.S. delegation for any international projects or conferences. Cleveland then served President Lyndon B. Johnson as U.S. ambassador to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) from 1965 to 1969. Cleveland advocated nuclear arms control and strengthening the United Nations for an expanded peace-keeping role. He also organized the move of NATO from Paris to Brussels when French president Charles de Gaulle removed France from the alliance in 1966.

Cleveland returned to academia in 1969 as the eighth president of the University of Hawaii, a position he held until 1974. As president, he oversaw the expansion of the university to include a medical school, law school, and an international astronomy project. From 1974 to 1980, he was director of the program in international affairs of the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, located in Princeton, New Jersey. The program was one of six "think tanks" operated by the Institute at that time, each considering a significant issue. The programs developed ideas and proposals for adapting existing institutions and developing new ones to address the issues. During his tenure, the international affairs program focused on methods for coping with an increasingly interdependent world, including the need for a new international economic order. In the last change of his career, Cleveland served as the first dean of the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota from 1980 to 1987. After his retirement, Cleveland continued to write and lecture on a wide variety of topics, largely within the fields of leadership, public policy and world affairs. His books include The Overseas Americans (1960), The Promise of World Tensions (1961), The Obligations of Power: American Diplomacy in the Search for Peace (1966), The Future Executive (1972), and The Knowledge Executive (1985).

Harlan Cleveland was born in New York City on January 19, 1918 to Stanley and Marian (Van Buren) Cleveland. He graduated from Princeton University in 1938, where he studied politics, and then studied for a year at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. He married Lois W. Burton on July 12, 1941 and they had three children: Melantha, Zoe, and Alan. Cleveland died on May 30, 2008 at the age of 90.

Acquisition:

Gift of Zoe Cleveland in October 2008 [ML.2008.024], with an additional donation of photographs in November 2008 [ML.2008.027].

Appraisal

Duplicate materials and papers related to Cleveland's university career have been separated from this collection.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Adriane Hanson in 2009. Finding aid written by Adriane Hanson in May 2009.

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, any copyright vested in the donor has passed to The Trustees of Princeton University and researchers do not need to obtain permission, complete any forms, or receive a letter to move forward with use of donor-created materials within the collection. For materials in the collection not created by the donor, or where the material is not an original, the copyright is likely not held by the University. In these instances, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have a question about who owns the copyright for an item, you may request clarification by contacting us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

Credit this material:

Harlan Cleveland Papers; Public Policy Papers, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/7p88cg60m
Location:
Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library
65 Olden Street
Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
(609) 258-6345
Storage Note:
  • Mudd Manuscript Library (scamudd): Box 1-14
Related Materials

Collections at the Mudd Manuscript Library of particular relevance to the Harlan Cleveland Papers include the George Ball Papers (undersecretary of state for Kennedy and Johnson), the Adlai Stevenson Papers (U.S. ambassador to the UN 1960-1965), and the Whiting Willauer Papers (economic aid work in China during the 1940s).

Related archival collections at other institutions include the Harlan Cleveland Papers at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library (1954-1965, 120 boxes) and records at the National Archives of the government agencies Cleveland worked for during his career. Syracuse University, the University of Hawaii, and the University of Minnesota also hold records related to Cleveland's tenure at each institution.

Bibliography

The following sources were consulted during the preparation of the biographical note: Cleveland, Harlan, Class of 1938, Undergraduate Alumni Records; University Archives, Special Collections, Princeton University Library. "Harlan Cleveland; Dean, Author, Statesman and Lifelong Learner" by Joe Holley. Washington Post, June 6, 2008. "Harlan Cleveland, Diplomat and Scholar, Dies at 90" by Dennis Hevesi. The New York Times, June 13, 2008. Harlan Cleveland Profile. Marquis Who's Who on the Web http://www.marquiswhoswho.com Accessed April 10, 2009.

Subject Terms:
Diplomacy.
Economic assistance, American.
Peace-building, American.
Statesmen -- United States.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Economic aspects.
Genre Terms:
Articles.
Photographs, Original.
Speeches.
Names:
Aspen institute
United Nations, Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
United Nations
United States. Department of State
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Places:
United States -- Foreign relations -- 20th century.